


Feeling Safe

by punkest_mermaid



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angggst, Child Abandonment, David Acting as Max's Parental Figure | Dadvid (Camp Camp), F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, NOT MAXVID, Superpowers, dadvid, you sickos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2020-12-28 21:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21143489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkest_mermaid/pseuds/punkest_mermaid
Summary: The camp is mostly the same except it's for kids with superpowers, which honestly isn't insane in that universe considering what Harrison can do and it's not set out in the woods.Camp Campbell is a secret organization meant to train superheros to do the bidding of the US Government. The kids are found at a very young age and raised to be unstoppable soldiers. The trainers are two Government officials who were pushed into the plan by their higher up Cameron Campbell as a way to get them off his case (also known as the illegal stuff he's doing). But when Max, the most stubborn of the group starts to hear voices seemingly coming from nowhere, it's up to the rest of the gang to keep him for destroying everything.





	1. Project: Camp Campbell

**Author's Note:**

> Im sorry, tbh this is my first ever fanfic, and it's honestly based off an idea for a graphic novel i have soooo...

Max was fucking tired of everything.

More specifically he was tired of today's activity. He wasn't even sure what the point of it was. Making shitty painted rocks to "better our surroundings" sounded like something a preschool teacher would come up with. He stared at the grey rock in front of him and sighed. No matter how hard he had tried to manipulate David that morning, he couldn't get out of the project. He picked up a paint brush and slathered the rock in blue paint before sighing again and trying to get Nikki to stop chewing on his jacket. She gets really impatient when doing art projects. She started to growl and snarl as Max fought with her about what was and wasn't a chew toy. Neil was ignoring the two as he wrote some computer code really carefully onto his rock. Something about leaving something behind for future generations to see how fucked they got at this camp, or something, Max had only been half listening. 

Suddenly they heard a thud from the front of the class. Gwen had fallen asleep and now her face was on the table, her rock dangerously close to where she landed. David, who had been sitting next to her jumped at the sound, but his surprise was quickly replaced with disappointment. 

“Gwen!” He shouted.

She awoke with a start, “What?!” the question was said as if said it to an authority figure. 

“Gwen, you have to stay awake! Be a good influence! What do you think it looks like to the campers if you’re asleep on the job?” David said in a sing-song voice.

Gwen’s facial expression up to that point had been one of fear of a superior, but now that she knew where the initial shout had come from, she slumped back down onto the table and glared at David. 

“It looks like I’m fucking tired, David, the kids aren’t foreign to that concept.”

Max started to ignore them at this point as he continued to slather paint on this dumb rock. 

Now this was a pretty average day for the campers, but from an outsider’s look, there would be a few things that they’d have picked up on that Max failed to think about. One, Max wasn’t using his hands. His hands stayed in his pocket the whole time he painted his rock, the paint brush floating in the air with Max’s glowing green eyes staring intently at it. Two, all of the kids seemed to have something strange about them. Nikki appeared to be a strange animal hybrid, with fangs and fur and claws. Neil looked pretty normal for the most part, but his body was covered in strange mechanical limbs and devices. There was a child flying in the background in a costume that seemed homemade with a fishbowl over his chubby face, a girl using strange spells and incantations was doing something indescribable to her rock that made it glow, while a boy next to her was using illusions and mind tricks to distract her. A boy that seemed to be built out of pure muscle was throwing rocks at the flying child trying his best to hit him while an older girl next to him was phasing in an out of visibility as she zoned out. The only kid that seemed interested in the project was painting his rock enthusiastically, and while you wouldn’t know it at first, was using his power of creativity to bring life to his new pet rock. A boy in a very theatrical attire was dramatically holding his rock while quoting Shakespeare, his form changing shape to fit the role. 

All of these things happening at the same time seemed to not phase the two adults arguing at the front of the room. 

But this was their life at Camp Campbell, trapped in a strange building just outside of town, with heavily armed guards at the ready, and very little space to roam. Cause when you were in charge of kids like these, you couldn’t be too careful. 

David sighed as he looked up to see the art room being completely abandoned, the campers lost interest before the activity even began. “Fine. How about we just head back to the common room. I think everyone might be a bit tired.”

Gwen instantly started to get up, “Okay kids, you heard the man, let’s put away all the paint!”

The room erupted into even more noise than before as half of the kids put their stuff away responsibly, and the other half just tossed their entire tray of paint and rocks into the nearby trash can. Max didn’t even bother lifting a finger. Nikki grabbed her rock which just seemed to be covered in slobber and yellow paint, and Neil grabbed his, “It’s too important to throw away!” He insisted. 

With the project out of the way, Max could finally breathe. His plan was to get to the common room and go to the secret corner where the three could plan the next escape out of this miserable prison.

David watched as the kids walked out of the art room and towards the elevator. They all waited as David in his formal white shirt and black pants finally followed with the keycard in hand, with Gwen sleepily walking behind him in her formal wear. David sighed and smiled once they were in the elevator, watching the kids get excited to play video games or watch television. Part of Max wanted to smile back at him, but the bigger part of him told him to suppress that urge. 

Making it down to the basement, a carpeted room with no windows was there, the only exit was the elevator which was pretty carefully secured. The only way to get it to work was the keycard, and David and Gwen were the only ones with one.

So this was basically their life. They had been there together for over a year, when they finally started the project, but the first kid to have been found was Max. He had been there for 5 years and counting. Along the way other kids were discovered, and more scared parents unprepared to raise a superhuman child appeared looking for help. Once the tenth kid showed up, the U.S. Government realized that they should do something official. 

Enter Gwen and David, two government agents in training, looking for any hands on experience they could get. They were thrown a bone, and put in charge of keeping the kids safe, and teaching them how to be agents themselves. 

Max knew David the longest, he was always around when Max was, so the two started to grow a connection, a connection that was not very friendly, but a connection nonetheless. David really seemed to like Max, and started to give him challenges and puzzles to do when he was bored. 

And while David liked Max almost immediately, it took awhile for Max to warm up to David. Max was not very trusting of adults, especially after his parents.

Max’s thoughts were interrupted by a booming voice coming over the loudspeaker. “Hello everyone! Outside is closed for all campers for the next two days.”

The campers groaned, and David’s smile faltered a little. Max wasn’t too happy with this development either, the plan they had perfected over the course of the week relied on being outside. So he watched as Neil and Nikki growled angrily with the rest of the kids. With their plan postponed, they really had no reason to not go and enjoy themselves, there was a television set up, some fairly entertaining games to play and….

A library. That seemed to be Max’s favorite place to relax. There were so many books about so many things he would (probably) never experience. Neil usually found it entertaining enough, though Nikki wasn’t too fond of it. It did have some comfy pillows for her to sleep on though. 

Max immediately went there, picking up a book that had a young girl on the front cover. He started to thumb through it, and the hours seemed to pass quickly, as Neil read a scientific journal, and Nikki lay on her back with her limbs up in the air, every once in a while barking, or moving slightly. 

Max had a hard time getting into the book. It was about an orphan who was adopted by three sisters who earned a living by pretending to be psychics who could contact the dead. They plan to pretend the orphan is the ghost of a recently deceased little girl who’s rich mother was grief stricken. That was as far as he had gotten when the bell came over the intercom. 

David guided them back to the elevator, and Max watched as the levels dinged past them, kids getting off for different rooms, Max getting off right before Nurf. When max made it to his room, he pulled the book out from under his hoodie, a trick he had been using for years, and lay on his bed. The room was light blue, with weird diy things he had made over the years, posters of the organization, a single barred window, and a desk in front of it for journaling or drawing in their free time. It was honestly pretty plain, but Max didn’t mind like some of the other kids did. Plain meant safe. 

And he liked to feel safe.


	2. The Voice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max wakes up in the night to hear a mysterious voice in his head. But is it trying to help him?

Max woke up in his room, the book he was reading open on his chest. He felt gross, the way people feel when they sleep in their clothes. He groaned, before pushing the book to the side and sitting up. His stomach grumbled and he looked at the clock. 1:30 in the morning. Well shit. 

Dinner would have been served in the cafeteria at around 5-7, which definitely was closed now, Mr. Quarterman wasn’t very willing to stay open late. So, Max was out of luck in the food department. Maybe he could sneak out to the kitchen, but his door usually automatically locked, and there was no way his bed sheets were long enough to get down through the window of his fifth floor room, even if he could get it open through the bars. He could call David, David would never let him go hungry, but he couldn’t really deal with him right now. 

As Max continued his grumbling thoughts to himself, he heard something behind him. It made him go silent. This building was very strange, but it was also very structurally sound. What he heard was the sound of wood. It didn’t make a ton of sense in a building made of metal. He looked to where he heard the noise. It was his door. 

The door knob was twisting from the outside. He gasped and quickly jumped under the covers, ready for an adult to tell him to go to sleep. Instead the door opened silently and gently hit the wall behind it. No footsteps, no voice, no anything. Max watched attentively, waiting for the loud obnoxious floor guard to come in. But a minute passed and nothing happened.

Max carefully got out from under the covers and placed his feet on the ground. He went to the door to see nothing. 

Max looked at the door handle from the outside. A key was sticking out of the lock, a plastic card that Max had seen a number of times, but never unattended. He was about to grab it, when something stopped him. He imagined the consequences, what it would look like if he had this in his possession. Was it stolen? Would they be looking for it? They already had them under heavy watch, but if they saw him with the key, it would triple. His first thought was to leave it there. Let an adult deal with it in the morning. 

But then a new thought entered. Take it. I left it for you.

Max jumped. The voice that had just talked sounded like it came from right behind him, but when he turned to look, the hallway was empty. It wasn’t like a thought, at least, not one that Max had had before. It was almost like-

Max, take the card. It will be useful.

It was someone else. 

‘What? Who are you?’ Max thought. It doesn’t matter. Take the card.

Max grabbed the card. Good. That should get you to the kitchen.

‘How did you-’

I’m in your head Max. I can tell you are hungry. Go eat.

Max waited for the voice to say anything else, but when he got nothing in return he looked at the card. Was he hungry enough to risk this?

After a moment of nothing, he decided yes, he was. 

He took the keycard and put it in his pocket, looking around for cameras.

They aren’t on. I turned them off. 

‘How?’

Nothing. 

Max walked down the hall towards the elevator. Sliding the keycard in he checked over his shoulder. This was the most panicked he had been in a long time….

The elevator door opened. He walked in, never having been in one by himself before. He was hesitant, waiting for it to be a trick, or a prank, or a test. But he watched as the doors slid closed. In front of him was a screen. He had used it before, David sometimes letting the kids press the buttons to make them feel important or something dumb and teachery. But as he looked at the screen he tried to remember, which floor was the cafeteria on?

7th floor. Go quickly. 

Max pressed the button for the 7th floor and hoped to any god that could be listening for it to be the right one, and for no one to be there. He had been on so many of these elevator rides, but none of them had ever felt this long. 

When he heard the faint ding, he watched the doors open to a darkly lit room full of empty tables. It was silent and foreboding, and he carefully stepped out onto the tiles. 

No one was there, and there was the pantry. All he needed was something quick, a granola bar, or some trail mix, something to help him get to breakfast. He went to the door, put the keycard in and watched it open. The lights flickered on inside, revealing shelves upon shelves of food. He scanned quickly for the easy snacks and found the box full of Kirkland brand bags of nuts. He grabbed 1 of those, and beside them were some Nutrigrain bars. He grabbed a strawberry one and pocketed them. With that out of the way he covered his tracks and left. Closing the door behind him, he jogged over to the elevator wanting to get to his safe room as quickly as possible. 

The elevator opened with the Card, and Max punched in the 15th floor. The elevator ride was just as long as last time. Max’s heart was pounding in his chest as he realized he might get away with this. 

When the doors opened again, Max lightly ran to his door, finding it still open. He ducked in and closed it, testing it from the inside. Locked. Max let out a huge breath of air as he leaned down. He reached into his pocket, grabbing the bag and ripping it open. As soon as he had something in his stomach he started to feel better, making his way over to his desk. He sat and ate.

Once he was finished he hid the wrappers and the card underneath his mattress. He waited for the voice to say something but it seemed to be gone. He even tried calling out to it, but no reply came. Max fell asleep wondering if he had dreamt it. 

That morning David woke up with a start. Something didn’t sit right. He looked around his apartment and sighed, knowing how long the day was going to be. He got up and out of bed before walking over to his dresser drawers, pulling out a light yellow dress shirt and brown slacks. His tie was going to be yellow as well he decided, dressing for the feelings he wanted. 

When he got into his car, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Did he forget something? He checked for his phone, his keys, his water bottle and found everything to be where it was supposed to. He rolled his eyes, it had to be nothing. 

Driving to the “Camp” was a challenge, cause it was a normal road from his apartment for about 5 minutes before becoming an unkempt dirt road for the last twenty. His car usually did ok, but that car was in the shop for the month. He was forced to use an issued Sedan while his jeep was on car holiday. 

The radio blaring in his car wasn’t helping the drive either as all stations seemed to get staticky as he got closer to work. 

When he pulled into the security parking lot he fixed his tie and looked at himself in the back mirror. He sighed again looking at the bags under his eyes and tried to smile. That seemed to do the trick for boosting his mood a little bit as he thought about the kids. That’s what this was for. 

He got out of the car, his long legs appreciating being out of the cramped space. He walked towards the gate, holding up his ID and waiting for the buzzer to sound. 

He made it to the cafeteria where the kids were having lunch. His eyes scanned across them, looking them up and down as a safety check. Everything was fine until his eyes stopped at Max. His hair was messy, his eyes had circles underneath them, and he looked miserable. David’s mind immediately remembered what it forgot. 

Max hadn’t eaten since Lunch yesterday. Shit.


	3. Dreams

Max practically inhaled his breakfast that morning. It was enough to make Nikki worry. 

“Max? You look real bad, kind of like when my mom comes home after one of her sleepovers.” Nikki remarked. 

Max glared at her. He was pretty much done with everyone in the room. The night before had been a stressful one. Once he had closed his eyes to sleep, he had some crazy dreams. He kept waking up every 30 minutes from something shocking, one involved the kids being taken into a dark room where he never saw them again, another was more dreamy with the moon talking to him in a strange voice telling him to run away, and then there was one where David was chasing him through the woods. Obviously he had forgotten a lot of the minor details which was infuriating, but he knew they were enough to rattle him. “I had a rough night.”

Neil nodded as Nikki raised an eyebrow, “What happened?”

“Nunya.”

“Nunya what?”

“Nunya business.” Max retorted. Nikki laughed. 

“Nunya business! That’s hilarious!” She rolled back until she was on her back laughing. 

Neil and Max watched her, Max looking at Neil for an explanation. “She ate four packets of raw sugar before you got here.”

Max nodded. Max would have loved to tell them about last night, but something in the back of his mind told him to keep it to himself for a little bit. The card might come in handy, but only if no one was missing it. If there was a missing card, he would be suspect numero uno. 

After breakfast the kids had an activity planned by David for the day. It was something that Preston Goodplay had suggested, and it made Max want to curl up on the floor and die. It was puppets. 

Each kid was asked to create a puppet of their choice and then use it in the improv show that Preston was putting together at the end. Max thought the puppet thing was bad, but then when he heard the word improv he actually wanted to throw up. 

“An Improv show is where enjoyment goes to die David, you can’t be serious.”

“Max, if you have a good attitude, anything can be fun!” David had responded, handing max a bucket of markers. 

Max worked hard on his puppet (A man in a suit with red hair that had a big cartoony arrow through his head) and made a big show of how his character is dead, so he didn’t have to do anything. It worked enough to get him out of the activity, though he did get a look from Preston. 

Whatever, Max could take that jester. 

Max had been really looking forward to the end of the day, more so than usual. He sat through lunch, through dinner, and through the evening announcements. He waited until the lights in the hallway had gone out before pulling the card out from under his mattress. He hadn’t heard anything about a missing card yet. He looked over the thing and found it strange that he hadn’t noticed it earlier, but the name was scribbled out on it in black sharpie. The ID number was still there, the barcode, but any unnecessary information was blacked out. 

He inspected it more, but found nothing else of notice, wondering why someone would have crossed it out in the first place. 

‘Unless they don’t want me to know who they are… or were.’ Max thought to himself. He put the card underneath his mattress again, and waited. He really wanted to hear the voice again, hoping that it could tell him more. 

Luckily, his wish had come true. 

Hello Max. Are we hungry tonight?

‘No, I’m fine. Whose card is it?’ Max thought back, trying not to get distracted. 

Mine. Well, now it’s yours. 

‘Who are you?’

Doesn’t matter. 

‘Yes it does. I need to know what's going on.’

I’m a friend Max. I can’t give you my name. There are ears everywhere. 

‘But you’re literally in my head. The only ears here are mine.’

I know more about the situation than you do Max. Please, trust me. 

Max didn’t like not knowing, but he also felt strangely comforted by the voice. 

Max lay back against his pillow and looked at the card. 

‘Why are you helping me?’

The voice was silent. Max almost wondered if it had left, but soon it came back. 

You’re special Max.

That was all it said before going back into silence. ‘Were you one of us?”

Sort of. It said. It was a bit more complicated than that.  
‘Well I’m bored so you better start talking.’

All in good time Max. Why don’t you get some sleep?

Max didn’t like that it was dismissing him, but also did feel tired. ‘I want answers.’

Of course you do Max, it said in a kind voice. But right now you need sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. 

Max could feel his eyelids start to droop, the dark room getting to him as his thoughts started to slow.

‘Fine, you win this time weirdo.’

No response came as Max closed his eyes and fell asleep. 

David had enjoyed the improv show the kids put on, even Max’s part, while he knew that it was a jab at himself. He enjoyed seeing the smile on Max’s face when he revealed his rebellious plans. 

The drive home was hard, it always was. He didn’t like leaving the kids there in that cold building. He knew what it was like to be alone and to feel helpless. 

He walked into his apartment, pulled his tie off and tossed it onto his coffee table. He walked across his living room into his kitchen and turned on his kettle, the water inside being days old and stale. Once it was boiling he poured it into a cup and grabbed a tea bag. He turned to the windowed door that led to his tiny porch. Opening it he could smell the rain in the air and felt refreshed. 

David didn’t love his job, but he felt a connection there that nothing else could compete with. In his youth he thought he’d be a park ranger or camp counselor, he spent so much time outdoors and hated being inside. He loved trees, animals, sunshine, and everything else that came with being outdoorsy, but he knew that the job he had was where he was meant to be. He was there to help those kids. 

He left the door open, letting the white noise of raindrops wash over him as he grabbed his laptop and sat down at his extremely tiny kitchen table. His cup of tea warmed him up as the breeze from outside cooled him down. He opened to his desktop and sighed. Another night of working. 

He pulled a little booklet from his pocket, a leather journal that he had been using for years now, and opened it to reveal his code. He had been working on it since he was a kid, when he and his friends would send each other notes. It was much more advanced now, and was way harder to decipher unless you were David. Opening a document in his computer revealed 46 pages of information written in code. Complete gibberish to anyone looking. He began typing as he looked back at his recent notes for the day from his journal, about the kids, about the camp, about Campbell. 

He would reveal everything. 

Max falling asleep in his room was always a strange feeling. It felt like he was actually falling asleep, like he was gliding through the air. Some of the other kids said that they felt like that too, but none of them were brave enough to question it. Max’s dreams would usually start with him landing somewhere after the fall. 

He stood at the door of his room, but everything was a bit off. It wasn’t his actual room, but he knew it was his. He walked in and tried to look out the window but it was almost as if his brain forgot how to do that. He saw a boy sitting on his bed, but he couldn’t make out any of the features, it was almost as if the boy was a white blob, or a trick of the light, but Max knew it was a boy. 

Max didn’t say anything, but he wanted to. His mind told him to leave the room so he did, and then he was in the woods. He saw trails and beaches that kept shifting and changing. He was on a bicycle with the back tire deflated and he was trying to steer it through the trails. He needed to get… somewhere. 

He saw three kids playing in the woods, grabbing sticks and throwing them at Max, trying to get him to crash. He arrived at a building with a large window, and walked inside. It was black. 

Max woke up. He had a moment where he looked for the boy at the end of his bed, but stopped as soon as he thought about it. He looked out the barred window and could see the night sky. He looked at his bedside alarm clock and groaned, 4:23 a.m. 

He fell onto his side and closed his eyes, feeling the falling sensation again, when he heard something. 

His eyes shot open as he heard a boot step towards him. He jumped up and looked around, nothing was there. He sat in silence waiting for another sound, another step but was almost unnerved to hear nothing. He clenched his blankets close to his chest before making one more round of his room, and deciding to ignore it. 

Falling back to his side, his eyes were still open, his heart was beating way too fast to fall asleep now, so he closed his eyes and did his best.

But when the morning alarm sounded, he knew it had been hopeless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long hiatus, I am getting ready to move into my dorm next month, and with the whole epidemic thing, it's making it very hard to get ready for. Thanks for reading!


	4. The Holder

The Alarm blared throughout his tiny apartment. David awoke at his computer and immediately felt like garbage. He stood up a little light headed and went to the coffee machine. After a cup, he felt his spirits lifting pretty quickly. He changed into a clean pair dark green dress pants with a white button up shirt. Putting on a yellow tie he grabbed his keys and hopped into his car. As the car started, he suddenly heard a different noise. Something that didn’t even sound like it came from the car. It sounded like it came from....

David carefully got back out of the car, leaving it running. He heard another sound, coming from the apartment building. It sounded like a crash. Like someone pushing something heavy down onto the ground. He looked at his window. The light was on. 

He ran up the stairs two steps at a time and once he reached his floor he looked to his door. Carefully walking to it, he held up a hand to his ear and leant next to the old wood. Another loud crash came from inside. 

He reached for the handle, feeling it turn effortlessly, clearly unlocked. He swung open the door and looked around his apartment to find... nothing. 

Everything was fine. He spent the next few minutes searching every room before finally sighing. He hadn’t slept well last night, maybe it was just some weird echos along with the lack of sleep? Even optimistic David knew that was hogwash. Whatever it was, he didn’t have the time to deal with it now, so he grabbed the only thing worth stealing in the entire apartment, his laptop and went off to work. 

When Max joined the others for breakfast that morning, something had seemed a bit odd. Everyone was a lot more quiet than usual, and a lot of the younger or more hyperactive kids were acting a lot more mature than Max even thought was possible. He saw Neil and Nikki wave him over to a table, and sat down between the two of them, placing his tray of starch whatever in front of him. 

“Guys, what’s going on?” Max whispered. 

Neil leant closer to him, “Ered tried to run away last night.”

Max looked around and realised that he hadn’t even noticed, but Ered wasn’t at any of the breakfast tables. 

“What happened?”

“She told Nerris and Dolf about how she was going to run away. Then last night they caught her trying to sneak by the front door with her invisibility shield. What she didn’t know was that someone overheard her telling Nerris and Dolf, and knew what she was going to do.” Nikki added, picking bits of wood from her fur. 

“Shit, what did they do to her?” Max whispered. He kept looking around the room, seeing more guards than usual, and all of them armed with tasers. 

“We don’t know exactly. We’re guessing she’s in the holder.”

The thought of the holder made Max grimace. He’d been in there a bit more than everyone else here, but he still hadn’t really gotten over how scary it can be. It was a pitch dark room with no openings. They phase you through a wall with some high tech gizmo they never thought was important enough to explain to the kids. They would leave you in there for as long as they felt like, and Max knew that sometimes they would forget you. He was in there once for a full day, having been in the dark long enough to hallucinate. David was the one who came to get him. It was the first and last time David had seen Max cry. After that experience Max tried his best to stay out of the holder. It did help that David and Gwen didn’t like using it. 

Max wondered how Ered was holding up. Knowing her, she would be ok, she was pretty tough. But Max couldn’t help but feel anxious the rest of the day.

David tried his best to cheer the kids up, letting them do what they wanted for the day, but even he seemed a bit down about the situation. Max couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was, but David seemed a little weird that day. Max ignored it though, like usual, having the day in the common room to talk to Neil and Nikki. 

“So if Nikki bites them, that would probably be enough of a distraction, right?” Neil questioned the two. 

“No, I can’t get through the armor. Trust me, I’ve tried.” Nikki answered.   
“Ok, well that's really the only thing holding us back, is distracting the guards. It seems like nothing can really over power them, at least nothing we can do. They know us too well.”

Max listened to the two talk back and forth, discussing a blackout, messing with cameras, but almost every idea just brought up more variables to consider. He fidgeted with the card in his hoodie pocket, not knowing if it was the right time to tell them.

Max worried it would never be the right time.

“What do you think Max?” Neil looked at him, his robotic eye focusing on him.

“I don’t know. I don’t...” He stopped. “I think anything we come up with will take a while to perfect either way, so let's just start with the cameras.”

The discussion continued like that, but Max knew that wasn’t what he was going to say. He felt hopeless. He didn’t think they’d be able to do anything no matter how much they talked about it, but it was something. 

David looked over the sea of kids playing games. He could always tell when they were upset, it wasn’t hard. Even Gwen seemed to notice as she kept giving him worried glances. He smiled, trying to reassure her but of course it was still hard. 

Dolf and Nerris definitely looked bad, they seemed like they felt guilty, as if it was their fault she got caught, or went to begin with. He wished he could have told them it wasn’t, and that no matter what happens they shouldn’t blame themselves. 

But he knew what it was like to be young, nothing an adult said really got through the way they meant it to. David knew that, and always kept that in mind when talking to them. 

David continued to watch the room, seeing the three troublemakers talking quietly to themselves made him curious, so he decided to venture over to them. Kneeling his gangly legs to be eye level with them he heard them shush each other. 

“What’s going on gang? You aren’t causing any trouble over here are ya?”

“No David, in fact all we were talking about was getting the he-” Nikki began.

Neil shoved a dog toy in her mouth which immediately shut her up, her eyes widening and completely losing focus on David. 

“What Nikki was saying was getting “The Heck Outta Dodge” a book that Max was talking about, right Max?” Neil looked to Max for support, but his wishes and hopeful looks fell upon deaf ears. Max was staring glass eyed at the ground. 

“Is that so?” David said, looking at Max before finally sitting on the ground. 

“Yeah, Max was about to talk about it, but I guess he got distracted,” Neil waved a hand in front of Max’s eyes, “Max? Are you doing ok?”

Max blinked and shook his head before looking up at the two red heads looking at him. 

“Huh? Oh yeah, I guess I’m just tired.”

This made David worry. David had known most of these kids for a very long time, and he had known Max the longest. He knew how most of the kids were at most times of the day, how they acted when tired, hungry, sad, sick… and Max almost always acted aggressive. So seeing him look so tired that he couldn’t even muster a snide remark towards him made him wonder. 

“Max, are you sure you’re ok?” David asked. 

“Yeah David, I’m totally sure. Can I go to the bathroom?”

David nodded while smiling. Max got up and went to the small room to the left side of the common room. As soon as Max closed the door David directed his energy to Neil.

“Neil, is Max actually ok?”

Neil looked at him and sighed. “I don’t know, he’s been a bit weird since this morning. I think it has to do with Ered. Do you know when she’s coming back?” Nikki finally got up from rolling on the floor and looked at David, waiting for an answer. 

“I’m not a hundred percent sure guys, but I’m gonna try and get her back before dinner.”

Nikki and Neil smiled at each other, maybe not as big as usual, but enough for David. He got up from the floor and gave Gwen a look. She nodded. 

“Ok kids, let’s all head to the cafeteria for lunch.” Gwen announced. The kids began to file towards the elevator. Gwen waved to David as he stayed behind in the common room, pulling his cell phone out. He dialed a very familiar number, and then brought it up to his ear. 

Little did David know, a certain 10 year old was listening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I realize that my updates are pretty unpredictable, but I'm having a lot of fun writing this. I'm also glad you guys are enjoying it. I don't know when the next update will come what with the world being the way it is, but hopefully it won't be too long. 
> 
> Btw I was definitely listening to girl in red and Sweater Weather while I was writing this chapter lol.


	5. Phonecall

David brought the phone up to his ear, hearing the dial tone. Then a voice came up on the other side. An older man’s voice, a charismatic voice that had a hint of malice and lies behind it. 

“Hello, this is Cameron Campbell speaking.”

“Hello Mr. Campbell, it’s David.” He started to fidget with his tie, wrapping it around his fingers. 

“Davey! How’s it going down there with the kids?” Cameron yelled over the receiver. 

“Oh, it’s fine, but I was wondering when Ered would be joining us again? The other kids are starting to miss her.”

Cameron was silent for a moment, “David, We have talked about this. This is as much a punishment for you as it is for them. You need to keep these kids in line if you don’t want them to get in trouble. Ered will be allowed to come out when I say she is.”

David sighed, “Mister Campbell, this isn’t fair to them. They're just kids.”

“They aren’t just kids, David. They are powerful creatures. I need them under control, otherwise who knows what they could do to us. Imagine what would happen if one of these kids got out now, they would tell the world, and then where would we be?”

“Sir-”

“David, if you want to keep this job you will see to it that these brats don’t fuck everything up. I realize you aren’t perfect, neither is Genny-”

“Gwen, sir”

“Whatever, the fact is, if these kids don’t trust you, then you become useless to me, and those kids will have a lot more to worry about than some time out.”

David sighed shakily. “Of course sir. I’ll get them on my side.”

“Don’t go letting her out yourself either, you’re already on thin ice. Don’t call me again about Ered, understand David?”  
“Yes sir.”

“Good. Get back to work Davey.” He hung up the phone leaving David to listen to the tone on the line. He put the phone in his pocket, and sighed, holding this face in his hands. 

Suddenly he heard something from behind him. A shuffle and little steps heading to the bathroom. David froze. 

Max.

Max tried his best to be quiet, but it was a bit hard. He had never heard David talk to Mr. Campbell himself, and he had never heard him talk so straightly. It was as if he was a different person. 

Max had run back to the bathroom as soon as David hung up, trying hard not to panic, feeling his heart tense up. He got to the bathroom, opened a stall and sat down on the toilet lid. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. 

He heard David walking towards the bathroom and brought his legs up to his chest, holding his breath as best he could. 

He heard foots teps as David walked into the room, “Max? Max, are you doing ok in here?”

Max wished he hadn’t stayed behind. He wished he just made himself known, and gotten David to send him with the others, but he didn’t. He was curious.

He stayed silent, but as David’s leather shoes walked up to the stall door, he knew he had been found out. David rapped his knuckles lightly on the door. 

“Max?”

“Why can’t you go get Ered?”

It took a moment for him to answer. “Max, I would if I could.”

“You got me out once, why not her.”

David took another moment. “It’s complicated.”

“I’m smarter than you think.”

“I know you are. It’s not about whether I think you will understand, because I know you will.”

Max was kind of surprised by the amount of wavering in David’s voice. “Then why not tell me.”

“I don’t want you getting hurt.” David answered almost immediately. It caught Max by surprise, the sheer speed of his answer. 

“When do you think they’ll let her out?”

“I don’t know Max. I wish I did.”

“David?”

“Yeah Max?”

Max was about to say something, when suddenly a loud noise came over the intercom. 

Max jumped to his feet when he heard the noise, a woman’s booming voice. “David! David, you are wanted in the cafeteria!!”

David sighed as he heard Gwen’s nerve wracked voice over the speakers. “Max, how about we go and join the others?”

Max opened the bathroom door and looked at the tall man waiting for him with a smile. He tried to show any emotion on his face, but it didn’t feel right. 

He finally nodded and followed David back to the elevator. 

David knew he had to ask Max what he was gonna say, so as soon as the elevator doors closed he turned to Max.

“What did you want to say Max?”

Max stiffened. He took a shaky breath. “Do you think they’ll ever let us go?”

David sighed, and brought his hand up to the back of his neck. “I know that you guys will be able to live your lives one day, I just don’t know if it will be because they let you leave willingly. Does that make sense?”

Max nodded. The door opened and they were in the cafeteria, where chaos had begun to rain down on them. Food flew from all directions, Space kid was being thrown by Nerf and began to fly around the room, Neil and Preston were hiding underneath a table, and Nikki was trying to catch as much of the food as she could in her mouth. Dolf was flinging food, Nerris was too, and once Max noticed where they were throwing it, it seemed to make a little bit more sense. They were throwing it at the guards and the rest of the staff. Harrison seemed to be the only camper who wasn’t affected by what was happening, sitting at a table and eating his mashed potatoes. 

“David!! Help me!” Gwen shrieked as Nerris nailed her right in the eye with a glob of ketchup. 

David ran into the room and scooped up Nerris. She started to kick and scream, and at some point cry. Dolf moved his aim towards David, yelling just as much as Nerris was, before Gwen picked him up too. 

“David!! Put me down!”

“Nerris, Dolf, what is going on!?” David said, still holding onto the struggling wizard in training. 

“Let Ered out!! She’s been in there all day!” Dolf shouted. 

“If you too stop causing such a mess, I’ll go and see what I can do, but this is not how we behave!”

At that, Nerris and Dolf stopped making such a fuss, both letting food drop to the ground and the yelling stop. 

“That’s better. Now, I expect better from you two.”

They both looked at the ground, Nerris’s eyes filled with tears, and now Dolf’s looking just as glossy. David lowered Nerris to the ground before looking at Gwen. 

Max watched in shock as he saw the expressions go between the two adults, seeing the fear in Gwen’s eyes as David brought his phone back out of his pocket. He went back to the elevator and Max watched the door slide close behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient yall, I'm officially moved into my dorm and now Ive got time and energy to actually write this thing. 
> 
> I'm honestly having a lot of fun doing this so don't be afriad to reach out.


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